This invention relates to optical on-the-fly card and badge readers for "reading" punched cards and badges, and transmitting the read data to a utilization device such as a digital computer or recording device. On-the-fly reading of punched cards and badges requires much less elaborate optical systems and card alignment systems than that required for a static card reader. However, a difficulty with on-the-fly card readers is that they are susceptible to misreadings due to simultaneous reading of more than one "digit" data or the reading of erroneous data due to less than complete insertion of the card or the jiggling of the card during insertion. One solution to the foregoing problems is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,215, assigned to the assignee hereof, which discloses an on-the-fly card reader applicable to the time clock system disclosed as well as capable of general application. The operation of the system of U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,215 is improved by the features in accordance with the invention.